Reader's Choice

Having read Beckett, Joyce, Yeats and Shaw, I had yet to encounter the work of Brendan Behan, and so I began with Borstal Boy (Arrow, £7.99 in UK). From the opening pages the book brims with humour, insight and honesty. The book tells the tale of Behan's encounters in the remand prisons before he enters borstal. Its charm lies in the conversations between the author and his chinas (friends), other inmates and prison officers. Behan does not glorify IRA activity but through his lively use of colloquialisms and recognition of their shortcomings describes how and why a young lad of 16 would join such an organisation. It's a very funny book yet at the same time it depicts life within prison confinement with a chilling reality. Borstal Boy is an amazingly well-written book - my regret is that I did not read it earlier.